In June of the ninth year of Chongzhen, the sun was scorching
Many people have come to Erlong Mountain near Wanghai Fort, which has always been a deserted mountain, these days. Among them are carpenters, blacksmiths, stonemasons, plasterers and other people from all walks of life. They are busy on the mountain and pass by.
Thousands of craftsmen have been working on it month by month, and a large-scale building complex has gradually appeared on the mountain.
Hua Yan, who was wearing a green official uniform from the seventh grade, was standing on the construction site, as if he was urging a group of craftsmen. A craftsman who looked like a small boss said with a grimace: "Sir, the current construction period is already very tight.
Okay, if we speed up the progress further, I really won’t be able to catch up!”
Hua Yan said with a face: "No, the work will start later this month. You must complete it within ten days. If it cannot be completed, I will only ask you!"
"Sir!" The craftsman was so anxious that he almost knelt down in front of Hua Yan. He said anxiously, "This can't be done. Building a house and a workshop is a long-term project. A villain doesn't dare to be careless. We really can't go any faster."
"Really it can't go any faster?" Hua Yan saw that the craftsman was about to cry and he believed it. He pondered for a while and asked slowly: "If I give you another five hundred people,
Woolen cloth?"
"Add more manpower to the villain?" The craftsman thought for a moment and replied, "If you add another five hundred people to the villain, you can give it a try."
"It's not just a try, but it must be completed on time." Hua Zheng said seriously: "This construction period is indeed very tight, but as long as you can ensure the quality and complete it on time, I will make the decision and double the reward for you."
"Is this true?" As soon as he heard the last sentence, the craftsman's eyes suddenly flashed with light, and he quickly said: "If this is true, the villain has to lose three kilograms of meat before the end of the month.
The house is well built."
"How could I lie to you?" Hua Yan couldn't help but smile brightly and said: "Okay, you guys hurry up and do your work. I will take a look around again." After saying that, Hua Yan began to patrol the mountain again...
..
Erlong Mountain is not big or small, but it is enough to accommodate one or two thousand people working here. Pang Gang placed the place for refining coarse salt here because it is easy to defend, difficult to attack and hidden. For this reason, Pang Gang also sent
Five hundred soldiers were stationed at the foot of the mountain, tightly surrounding Erlong Mountain, and no one on Erlong Mountain was allowed to come down.
So far, Pang Gang has selected five hundred households of refugees and signed a contract with them. The contract stipulates that they must work on Erlong Mountain for at least ten years before they can come down. If they violate the rules and sneak down the mountain secretly, the garrison at the foot of the mountain will
Kill them on the spot.
Although many refugees were puzzled and worried about why General Dingyuan chose them to go up the mountain, many people signed the contract for the sake of generous rewards. As long as they survive these ten years, they will wait until ten years later.
When you come down from the mountain, you will be a little rich man, and your children will have grown up by then. With this money, you can build a house in the city and have a satisfactory marriage for them.
By late June, when the houses and factories on Erlong Mountain were completed, Pang Gang had already produced the first batch of tens of thousands of kilograms of coarse salt from the salt field on the beach behind Wanghai Fort. Pang Gang immediately ordered the preparations to be made.
The good refugees went to Erlong Mountain and personally explained to the refugees how to refine refined salt at Erlong Mountain.
Following Pang Gang's explanation, all the refugees were shocked. After having eaten coarse salt all their lives, none of them could have imagined that it would be so simple to extract refined salt from coarse salt. Until then, some people's minds were spinning fast.
The refugees immediately understood why the commander signed such a ten-year contract with them.
Refining refined salt is such a simple thing. If any of the refugees secretly ran down the mountain and spread this technology, causing the refined salt to flood, the damage to the commander would be immeasurable.
Looking at the commander standing in the middle explaining the techniques of refining coarse salt to everyone, some refugees helplessly looked down at the foot of the mountain. Alas, it seems that they will really stay on this mountain for ten years. Fortunately, they still have their wives and children with them.
Just think about yourself, ten years should go by very quickly...
After staying on Erlong Mountain for three days, Pang Gang, who smelled of sea salt all over his body, took the first batch of refined salt down the mountain and handed it to Lin Feng, who had been waiting at the foot of the mountain with eager eyes.
Lin Feng's eyes turned green when he saw the loads of white salt carried by the porters. He knew a little bit about the inside story, but he knew that the commander in front of him had extracted these salts from coarse salt that was not worth much.
Yes, this is a business that turns stones into gold with huge profits.
"The Pangda people are going to be prosperous this time!" This was the first thought that came to Lin Feng's mind, who had been promoted to the eighth grade governor of Qingzhou. How could he, who had always been interested in financial accounts, not know the huge difference between refined salt and coarse salt?
As for the price difference, he knew very well that with the technology of refining salt at hand, as long as nothing happens, he would become the richest man in Jiangnan in a short time.
Seeing Lin Feng's dull expression, Pang Gang smiled and patted his shoulder and said: "Okay, don't be in a daze. You have to remember that your first priority in going to Zhejiang this time is to open up the situation and be able to negotiate with him.
It’s okay to make friends with the salt merchants there and let them act as agents for our refined salt, but you have to remember that we must not reveal that we made the refined salt ourselves, otherwise we will be in big trouble.”
Lin Feng said respectfully: "Don't worry, sir. I know what to do. But what puzzles me is why you want to transport the refined salt to Zhejiang first and remain indifferent to Jiangsu, which is just around the corner?"
Pang Gang shook his head and said: "Jiangsu will send someone else, you only need to be responsible for Zhejiang."
"Yes, I'll leave now."
There was no need for Pang Gang to explain clearly. Lin Feng understood immediately. No one in a superior position would put all his eggs in the same basket. Even if Pang Gang trusted him again, he would not hand over everything as big as refined salt.
In his hands, the cunning rabbit still has three holes, let alone the commander? This has nothing to do with trust or not, it is just the mentality that a superior must have.
After sending Lin Feng away, Pang Gang told the garrison at the foot of the mountain to be more vigilant and then rushed to Lingshan Guard without stopping. Since the production of refined salt has officially begun, his plan to increase troops must be carried out as soon as possible.
In Pang Gang's plan, Qingzhou's military strength must be at least 10,000 to 20,000 standing elite soldiers to have the strength to protect itself in this troubled world and make others fear it. However, among the three guards under his command, only the Lingshan Guard has 40,000.
With the addition of new military households, the remaining Qianniuwei and Antonwei are now only empty shells, waiting eagerly for relief. At this stage, they cannot be expected to provide qualified personnel for themselves.
manpower.
Pang Gang calculated that when he led his troops to the capital to serve the king, he took away almost all the soldiers and horses, including the heavy troops. The number of the troops was about 3,300. After several fierce battles, these troops still had
There are more than 2,500 people, and during this period of time, Lingshan Guard has trained 3,000 new sergeants, which means that it now has about 5,500 troops.
The strength of 5,500 men seemed to be a lot, but when Pang Gang used 2,000 of them to fill the defense of the original Qingzhou City that had just been dismantled, the remaining 3,500 men went to Anton.
After guarding, Lingshan Guard, Qianniu Guard and Erlongshan, Pang Gang found that he did not have a mobile team in his hands.
Even the stupidest officer knows how bad it is to not have a mobile force that can be mobilized at any time. In view of this, Pang Gang decided to grit his teeth and recruit 3,000 young men as standing soldiers.
He found Li Xian, who was in charge of the overall work of Lingshan Guard at this time. Pang Gang was not polite and immediately asked: "Li Dianli, now I want to recruit three thousand more young men from Lingshan Guard. What do you think?"
"
Li Xian frowned and said with some embarrassment, "Sir, although there are more than 40,000 Lingshan Guards on the surface, many of them are old, weak, women and children. If you recruit 3,000 young men to join the army, it may affect the Lingshan Guards."
Work in the fields."
Pang Gang thought for a while and then said: "Otherwise, let's let these newly recruited military households train in the fields first. As long as they can be trained to a certain level within three months, there will be no delay."
What do you think of your plans for farming and building canals?"
After hearing this, Li Xian nodded: "If that's the case, it's okay. If too many young men are recruited into the army, there's no guarantee that we can still complete your farm plan. But my lord, in my opinion, now Lingshan Guard has begun to move forward."
If we are on the right track, should you introduce some more refugees and place them in the two health centers, Qianniuwei and Antonwei? Those two health centers have 70,000 to 80,000 acres of abandoned farmland."
Pang Gang smiled bitterly and said nothing. In fact, how could Pang Gang not know about the problem that even the old man Li Xian saw? It's just that now that he is the commander of Qingzhou, his every move attracts attention. He has just become the commander of Qingzhou.
He would go around gathering refugees, and if he was not careful, he would be labeled as having evil intentions and rebellion. If he were labeled with this label, even if Emperor Chongzhen admired him, he would probably be dismissed immediately and investigated. Even Pang Pang
He just didn't want to be captured, but with his current strength, there was no way he could fight against the imperial army. He couldn't become a rogue like Li Zicheng.
Such a result is not what Pang Gang wants. In later generations, bandits like Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong who can only destroy but not build are despised by many people, and Pang Gang is no exception. In Pang Gang's view, those who walk like locusts
The rogue bandits who destroyed every place they came were the greatest scourge of the Ming Dynasty, and they were also the ones who must be eliminated.